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Numerous experts and officials spoke out Thursday about Trump’s rhetoric. Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, a Republican who is leading an organization aimed at helping Americans vote safely during the pandemic, tweeted that “rather than working to safeguard the election this year, [Trump is] preemptively trying to delegitimize it.”

Now comes Ridge’s latest endeavor, VoteSafe, another bipartisan project, which he’s co-chairing with former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat. VoteSafe is working to ensure that “every American has the right to vote safely amidst the pandemic,” including in person and by mail. Say what you will about Ridge. He has detractors on both sides of the political aisle, including Trump. But for a guy who suffered a major heart attack three years ago, Ridge is certainly having a moment back in the political spotlight. With fewer than 100 days to go until the election, it’s a sure bet that we’ll be hearing even more from the outspoken Ridge.

Mr. Trump, who has himself voted by mail before, had no precedent on which to base his remarks about mail-in voting, said Tom Ridge, who served as homeland security secretary in the George W. Bush administration. “I regret that the president would try to undermine the legitimacy and question the outcome of the election based on some hypothetical abuse of absentee ballots” with “absolutely” no basis in history, said Mr. Ridge, a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and a Trump critic. “When you listen to the president, you begin to wonder, is he more — is he worried about the legitimacy of the electoral process, or is he worried about losing?”

Ridge, who previously served as the governor of Pennsylvania and was the nation’s first secretary of Homeland Security, says the same process that is used to validate absentee ballots — like confirming voter registration and validating the voter’s signature — is also used to validate ballots directly mailed to voters in states that conduct mail voting. Currently, five states, including Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington, conduct their elections entirely by mail.

“There’s no inherent advantage to one party or the other,” said Ridge, who chairs the bipartisan group VoteSafe, which advocates for expanded voting access. “The advantage goes to the party that utilizes that method — that option of maximizing participation — on Election Day. So if you have a Republican President undermining his own base, and suggesting they don’t use absentee ballots, while the Democrats have demonstrated, particularly thus far in the primary season, they understand its value … then he puts his own party as a decided disadvantage because it discourages Republicans from using it.”

“We need to be talking about “Election Week,” not Election Day,” former Homeland Security secretary and Republican Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge told CBS News. “We’ve seen an unprecedented request for absentee ballots and it may take a little longer.” Ridge is the co-chair of the new bipartisan group, VoteSafe.

“We shouldn’t be so focused on knowing that night. We might, it’s certainly a possibility, but let’s start talking about election week,” Ridge said.

“I think it’s very sad and very disappointing that with almost five months to go, the president seems to [want to] try to delegitimize the November 3 election,” Ridge told National Public Radio last month. “It just seems to me that this may be an indication he’s more worried about the outcome than he’s worried about fraud.”

Tom Ridge, the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania, the first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995, the co-chair of “VoteSafe,” talks to Julie Mason.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, votes cast by mail are expected to set a new record this November. Because of the delays that come with mail-in ballots, for the second time in 20 years, Americans might not know right away who wins the election.

“I know we like instant gratification, but we need to come to terms with the fact that if the election is close we will not have results on Election Day this year and that’s okay,” said former Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who now co-chairs SafeVote, a nonprofit that is advocating for vote-by-mail expansion. “We should expect an election week rather than Election Day.”

“The ultimate choice for American citizens should not be ‘jeopardize my health, or vote?’” Tom Ridge, who was the first secretary of Homeland Security and former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, told the Washington Examiner. He now co-chairs voting rights-amid-a-pandemic organization VoteSafe with former Democratic Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

With an ongoing global pandemic and a national election five months away, many state election officials are looking to expand mail-in voting as an alternative to waiting in line at polling locations. As co-chair of the new bipartisan group called VoteSafe, Tom Ridge, a former Republican governor and the nation’s first Secretary of Homeland Security, is advocating for safe in-person voting and the expansion of voting by mail.

Rural Republicans like Alaska Rep. Dan Young have also called for defending the post office. Still, some conservatives say tying its funding to Election Day jitters is a partisan ploy. “It’s just casting seeds of doubt on the legitimacy of the outcome,” said Tom Ridge, the Republican former Pennsylvania governor who now heads VoteSafe, a bipartisan group working with state and local officials to expand and strengthen vote-by-mail options head of November. “It’s very sad, it’s very disappointing, it’s very troubling.”

In this special report episode, Roll Call brings you the latest on health policy news and why Tom Ridge, who is also a former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, has joined a bipartisan effort to secure voting in November.

“Between massive absentee ballot confusion in New York and a dramatic consolidation of voting locations in Kentucky, primary elections today illustrated that additional steps must be taken between now and our November general elections,” former Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and former Democratic Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in a joint statement.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R) said on Hill.TV’s “Rising” Wednesday that both parties should work toward expanding mail-in voting. “We’ve been using absentee ballots since the civil war; there’s no partisan advantage in using an absentee ballot,” said Ridge, who served as Homeland Security secretary under President George W. Bush.

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge questioned why Trump would stoke conspiracy theories rather than urge his own supporters to vote by mail amid a pandemic. “You’re the incumbent president of the United States. You have a bully pulpit, you’ve got this massive war chest and you’ve got a huge electronic following,” he told the AP. “Why would you not encourage them to vote, number one, and say, ‘Well, if you can’t get to the polls for whatever reason, make sure you fill out that absentee ballot and vote for me?'”

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge discusses voting security issues in the upcoming November elections on C-SPAN.

Former Governor Tom Ridge (R-Pa.) discusses the importance of mail-in voting after Trump’s attacks.

Ridge said Trump’s attacks are “counterintuitive” and out of step with campaign managers and grassroots organizers from his own party, and he worries that Trump may be affecting the views of Republican voters as well.

“While absentee ballots are safe, secure, and do not benefit one party over another, this dangerous rhetoric does,” said Ridge, who co-chairs the newly formed VoteSafe group, which supports expanding vote-by-mail. “Scaring his own voters away from a proven method that dates back to the Civil War will have a toll on Republicans up and down the ballot.”

“You’re the incumbent president of the United States. You have a bully pulpit, you’ve got this massive war chest, and you’ve got a huge electronic following,” he said. “Why would you not encourage them to vote, number one, and say, well if you can’t get to the polls for whatever reason, make sure you fill out that absentee ballot and vote for me?”

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, a Republican and also the nation’s first secretary of homeland security, told NPR last week that Trump’s unfounded claims could discourage Republicans from using a form of voting that is increasingly popular and potentially safer when considering the coronavirus pandemic.

“Scaring his own voters away from a proven method that dates back to the Civil War will have a toll on Republicans up and down the ballot,” said Ridge, a Republican who is co-chairing VoteSafe, a bipartisan group promoting vote-by-mail.

Ridge said that it’s clear from recent primaries that millions of American want to vote by mail, especially during the pandemic. He notes that numerous studies have shown that neither party has an advantage when it comes to mail-in voting, despite Trump’s repeated claims that it hurts Republicans.

Ridge tells Yahoo News that he believes mail-in ballots will help turnout among Republican voters in important swing districts — and that the president would be remiss not to take advantage of the option.

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who also served as the nation’s first Homeland Security Secretary, is co-chairing an effort supporting mail-in balloting called VoteSafe.us, along with former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat.

Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge (R) told me Trump’s efforts to limit voting by mail are “counterintuitive,” and that he sees no reason more Democrats than Republicans will vote that way during the coronavirus pandemic, as the president has claimed.

“The June 2 primaries proved what we already knew – access to absentee ballots increases voter turnout,” Tom Ridge, a Republican who served as the Homeland Security secretary under George W. Bush and now chairs the bipartisan group VoteSafe, told The Hill. “That’s especially good news for someone like me who does not believe voting is a privilege, but rather a responsibility of citizenship. Voters should have options to demonstrate that responsibility safely and securely during this pandemic.”

“The June 2 primaries proved what we already knew – access to absentee ballots increases voter turnout,” said Tom Ridge, a Republican former Homeland Security Secretary and governor of Pennsylvania, who co-chairs the bipartisan group VoteSafe.

Tom Ridge, former Pennsylvania governor and former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, spoke with The Daily Wire about the current state of mail-in voting, as well as its benefits, the perception of large pitfalls, and what states can do to prepare for the possibility of dramatically expanded mail-in voting.

Last month, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm launched VoteSafe, a bipartisan coalition supporting voting accessibility. Following this week’s primary elections in eight states and the District of Columbia, the cochairs wrote an open letter to election administrators nationwide on steps to prepare for the November election, when Americans could face similar voting challenges amid the pandemic.

“It is inappropriate to sow seeds of doubt about a national election, and to discount the ability of secretaries of state — be they Republicans or Democrats — to provide a safe and secure alternative,” said former Pennsylvania Gov. and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, a Republican, who is spearheading a bipartisan project, VoteSafe, along with former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, to expand access to absentee ballots.

Ridge is now helping to lead a bipartisan group called VoteSafe that promotes mail-in balloting. He noted that Trump has the built-in advantages of incumbency and an enormous campaign war chest that he could use to mobilize his base with a mail-in-balloting drive.

Officials at VoteSafe, a new bipartisan initiative working to make elections safe and accessible, said Wednesday that this round of voting showed that for the fall election officials need to make sure absentee ballots are sent out earlier, that plenty of polling stations will still be needed — and that election officials need to be better prepared to count record numbers of absentee ballots.

Its latest alliance is a new cross-partisan coalition, dubbed VoteSafe, led by one prominent former governor from each party, Republican Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and Democrat Jennifer Granholm of Michigan. VoteSafe is promoting both access to absentee ballots and public health at polling places, and has partnered with such leading groups as RepresentUs and the League of Women Voters.

Last week — in response to the Trump tweet — former Republican governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and former Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm, of Michigan, cochairs of the newly formed VoteSafe, released a statement noting, “Absentee ballots are not new. One in four Americans already votes absentee, including the 2016 Presidential election.” They also reminded Trump that even he had cast an absentee ballot, in the most recent Florida primary.

Last week — in response to the Trump tweet — former Republican governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and former Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm, of Michigan, cochairs of the newly formed VoteSafe, released a statement noting, “Absentee ballots are not new. One in four Americans already votes absentee, including the 2016 Presidential election.” They also reminded Trump that even he had cast an absentee ballot, in the most recent Florida primary.

Gov. Tom Ridge Op-Ed: Our country has taken extraordinary measures to keep citizens safe during this pandemic. We need only to take some common-sense measures to make sure we can all vote, not only in primaries but in the general election in the fall.

“It’s actually disappointing because it means you’re trying to sow the seeds of doubt in a process that has been so much a part of Americans’ history,” former Homeland Security Secretary and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said about the president’s vote-by-mail tweets. “It flies in the face of what I think both parties should be focused in on, and that’s creating options that are safe and secure for all voters, particularly during the pandemic.”

Former GOP Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, co-chair of Vote Safe, a bipartisan coalition aimed at ensuring there are safe voting options in November, noted that the U.S. military and Americans living overseas have long mailed in their ballots. “I frankly don’t think that either party is advantaged by absentee ballot.”

“My disappointment with the president is that he creates doubts about the legitimacy of the forthcoming election,” said Ridge, who co-chairs VoteSafe, a group of bipartisan election officials and organizations calling for safe voting during the coronavirus pandemic. “The reality is that (Trump is) sowing seeds of doubt in distaste of recorded history. And that’s sad.”

With millions of voters scared of coronavirus exposure, a surge of absentee ballots is coming in November even if the rules are not relaxed and more federal help is not delivered — a reality obscured by the intensifying partisan rhetoric over vote-by-mail’s virtues and flaws. And so a new group, VoteSafe, has been launched in hopes of lowering the volume and magnifying the needs of election administrators of both parties preparing for the first Election Day in a century during a nationwide public health emergency.

On Thursday, former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, and former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge, a Republican, announced the formation of “VoteSafe,” a group that included both Michigan’s Democratic current secretary of state (whom Trump had picked a fight with) and Georgia’s Republican secretary of state (who Trump decidedly hadn’t). There was no talk of “universal” voting systems, just of “expanding absentee ballot options” with as little blue-on-red violence as possible. “This is not a partisan issue,” the former governors said, “and not a time to play politics.” And so a new group, VoteSafe, has been launched in hopes of lowering the volume and magnifying the needs of election administrators of both parties preparing for the first Election Day in a century during a nationwide public health emergency.

Ridge, who spent more than six years as Pennsylvania’s governor, told host Neil Cavuto that state chief executives of both parties “by and large … have done a very good job” despite what he described as “challenges associated with inconsistent messages, perhaps from Washington, and the availability or unavailability of some basic equipment.” “This is not a partisan issue,” the former governors said, “and not a time to play politics.” And so a new group, VoteSafe, has been launched in hopes of lowering the volume and magnifying the needs of election administrators of both parties preparing for the first Election Day in a century during a nationwide public health emergency.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) also signed on to a new bipartisan initiative that launched yesterday aimed at ensuring everyone has access to mail-in voting. The initiative, called VoteSafe, is led by former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R), who was also the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D).

Leaders in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin answered VoteSafe’s nationwide call to prepare for the November election by ensuring all voters have safe and secure voting options. The bipartisan VoteSafe coalitions are led by former Republican House Majority Leader Dave Reed and former Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy in Pennsylvania, and Attorney General Josh Kaul and former Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen in Wisconsin.

Between massive absentee ballot confusion in New York and a dramatic consolidation of voting locations in Kentucky, primary elections today illustrated that additional steps must be taken between now and our November general elections. VoteSafe Co-Chairs, former Secretary of Homeland Security and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm issued the following joint statement in response.

Following yesterday’s elections in five states, VoteSafe Co-Chairs, former Secretary of Homeland Security and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, issued a joint statement

Following yesterday’s elections in eight states and the District of Columbia, VoteSafe Co-Chairs, former Secretary of Homeland Security and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, issued a joint statement.

Last week, a coalition of bipartisan leaders called for safe and secure elections in an open letter. Today, Michigan answered the call with the launch of VoteSafe Michigan, a cross-partisan coalition to ensure that all Michigan voters have safe voting options in the August and November elections. The coalition is led by former Republican Congressman and physician Joe Schwarz and Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

In response to President Trump’s tweet containing misinformation regarding absentee voting processes, Governors Tom Ridge and Jennifer Granholm, Co-Chairs of VoteSafe, released the following statement.

VoteSafe, a cross-partisan coalition supporting the simple principle that every American has the right to vote safely and securely amidst the pandemic, has launched.

In this open letter, VoteSafe Co-Chairs Tom Ridge, former Secretary of Homeland Security and Pennsylvania Governor (R), and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D), call on United States Elections Administrators to pledge to two principles: taking common-sense steps to protect voters and safeguarding the November elections.